


Civilian Shot

by pennigirl



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Circus, F/M, Family Secrets, Flashbacks, Gen, Hidden Talents, Kid Clint Barton, Kid Darcy Lewis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-03
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2017-12-28 08:31:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/989919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennigirl/pseuds/pennigirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"That is not a civilian shot."<br/>With those words, Darcy's secret past with Clint was out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Attack

It was a Thursday afternoon when the alarms went off and the “intruder alert” began to sound. When the tapes were later reviewed Hill would count a total of 150 men in head to toe gray combat gear come sweeping into SHIELD headquarters.

She flipped through the footage of the heavily staffed areas quickly. Those skirmishes got settled fast and without any major issues due to the large amount of armed agents. She was going through the footage for the medical floor when she saw a soldier in grey palm open a door, go through, and when his partner tried to follow he hit the ground.

The tech had already begun scrolling another area, but Hill stood up from her seat and said, “Go back. I want to see that hallway again.”

The tech nodded and Hill tapped the screen showing the fallen enemy soldier. “Zoom in.”

“Which part?” the tech asked.

“His eye,” Hill said.

The tech zoomed and the image moved in closer on the soldier, dead with his eye oozing blood from underneath a silver blade.

“What is that?” the tech asked. “A knife?”

“No,” Hill replied. “It’s a scalpel.” She sat back down. “Show me the med wing.

“Mind if I ask why, ma’am?” the tech asked.

“Cause that floor was only scientists and civilians,” Hill replied. “And _that_ ,” she said, tapping on the screen to where the soldier lay, “is not a civilian shot.”

             

Debriefing was a daily thing for the Avengers and any staff involved in some of their work. If they were in the city, than they were at SHIELD, nine am sharp, for a meeting. As Clint strode in, he spotted Natasha and Bruce in the room as well as Jane and Darcy. Seeing them, made Clint curious. As far as he knew, there wasn’t any work with Foster going on besides the bridge.

Greetings went around the room as he took his seat across the table from the physicist. Shortly afterwards Hill strode in with a folder in her hand. “Morning, everyone.” she greeted.

Clint and Natasha replied out of habit. Bruce and Jane were zoned out as they went over something on Jane’s tablet, and Darcy popped her gum.

Hill raised an eyebrow at Darcy, who popped her gum again and grinned. Hill dropped the brow and turned to the large monitor in the room. “As you are all no doubt aware, there was an incident yesterday where our perimeters for the building were breached and SHIELD was infiltrated by a group of heavily armed men.”

“Do we know who they were, ma’am?” Clint asked.

Hill shook her head. “At the moment, no. However, some of their gear looks like experimental Hammer tech from before his incarceration. So we’re looking into several options with that.”

Clint nodded and Natasha asked, “How’d they get in?”

Hill pulled out her clicker and the monitor split into several different sections, each showing different camera feeds. “From what we can tell, they infiltrated through the newly installed ductwork on the roof and through our recently repaired sewage lines underneath the building. “

“Repairs you went outside Stark’s contractors for,” Bruce commented from behind his tablet. Showing he wasn’t completely ignoring them.

Hill grimaced. “Yes. And believe me, we are going to be looking in to who approved that.” She pressed the clicker in her hand and the images changed again. “We had them detained within half an hour, Barton and Romanoff, your areas were about a third of that; but there was considerable damage throughout the more civilian areas. It will be fairly easy to repair, some projects will need to go on hold though. This includes the work on the Rainbow Bridge.” Hill looked at Jane. “Sorry, Doctor Foster.”

Jane sighed and nodded, it now making sense why she’d been asked to come to the meeting.

Hill continued on. “However, it’s obvious from their reactions that I don’t think some of the soldiers were expecting as much of a fight from some of the scientists that they got.”

Natasha smirked and Clint chuckled. Hill ignored them and said, “What’s most interesting for us in this incident is the med-bay.”

Hill clicked and the feed showed two soldiers going down a hall they recognized as the floor for one of the medical bays. The feed showed one soldier going through the door, the other following in his wake, only to fall back and hit the floor.

Hill froze the image there and Bruce squinted. “What’s that sticking out of his eye?” he asked.

Clint looked closer and saw something long, thin and silver jutting from the fallen soldier’s eye. “Is that a scalpel?” Natasha asked.

“Indeed it is,” Hill said. She clicked again and the feed of med bay itself appeared.

It showed Jane, Darcy, and one of the doctors. It showed the first soldier entering, and the doctor getting shot. Jane grabbed for the doctor, trying to stem the flow of blood as he fell to the floor. They watched as the soldier went towards them, Jane looking scared. Darcy froze for a moment and then reached a hand behind her, grabbed something off the table, and threw it swiftly. The soldier went down, a scalpel jutting out of his neck. Darcy didn’t wait before she reached behind herself again, flipped the scalpel in her hand for a better grip, and threw it towards the med bay entrance. This, the group realized, was the shot that felled the soldier in the hallway.

Hill clicked and the video paused, rewound itself to the point where the second blade left her hand, and paused again on Darcy. Her hand was outreached, the blade mid spin, her gaze calm as she watched it. Everyone turned to stare at Darcy in disbelief. Except Natasha, who actually looked kind of impressed.

She looked back at them and popped her gum. “What?”

“How…?”Jane asked. “ _Where_ did you learn that?”

Darcy shrugged.  “Around, she said dismissively. “I learned as a kid. No big deal.”

“No big deal?” Jane asked incredulously.

Hill sat down across from Darcy.  “We need you to tell us where you learned this, Miss Lewis. Despite what you may think, this skill of yours actually is a little bit of a big deal.”

“Because I threw a couple of scalpels?”  Darcy asked, disbelief in her voice.

“No. It’s because you are privy to a lot of classified information as a _civilian_ attached to Doctor Foster’s project. But if we learn that this skill was learned from a non-civilian outfit we can have all your clearance revoked and you can be incarcerated for failing to disclose non civilian status.”

“For throwing a scalpel?” Jane asked in disbelief.

“No,” Hill said. “For potentially being an enemy.”

Jane gulped and Darcy glared. Clint leaned forward in his seat. “That’s taking it a bit far, ma’am. Don’t you think?”

“Not unless Miss Lewis tells us where she learned this particular set of skills,” Hill replied.

Darcy glared at Hill. “This is ridiculous,” she said. “I am not a threat.”

Hill shrugged. “Ridiculous or not, Miss Lewis, we need to know. Where did you learn?”

Darcy chewed on her lip as she thought about Hill’s threat. She glanced around the room, and everyone could tell she just wanted to snap at Hill and tell her to get lost.

“Darcy,” Jane pleaded. “Please tell her.”

“I don’t want to,” Darcy hissed.  “This is something private. Just for me.”

“Private or not, Miss Lewis, I can’t have a potentially a dangerous civilian working alongside our operatives without proper clearance and background checks.”

“I did have a background check,” Darcy replied. “Coulson cleared me.”

“Ma’am,” Clint interrupted, trying to defend Darcy when she gave him a worried look. “This is getting excessive. And she’s right, Coulson ran her background before New York. He said she was clear. I took the report to HR myself.”

Hill ignored him and Darcy glared at her. “I’m not dangerous! I just threw some damn knives. I never wanted to learn to do it in the first place, and I know Clint sure as hell didn’t want to teach me!”


	2. Circus Childhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint, Darcy, and growing up in the circus

It was as if somebody hit the stop button on everything in the room. Everyone was staring at Darcy in shock. Hill turned to Clint with a questioning look. “Agent Barton?” she said, a ‘don’t give me any shit’ tone in her voice.

Darcy winced. “Sorry,” she mouthed to him.

Clint sighed. “It’s okay, Darcy,” he said. He looked at Hill with a resigned look on his face as he said. “Yes, _I_ taught Darcy how to do this.”

“When was this?” Hill asked.

“When I was little,” Darcy said. “In the circus.”

“Circus?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah,” Clint said. He got up and sat next to Darcy. He nudged her shoulder with his own and she smiled and nudged him back. “The circus.

Hill got out a pen to take notes.  “Explain.”

Darcy got a look in her eyes that she was going to protest. Clint grabbed her hand and squeezed. “It’s okay,” he whispered.

Darcy sighed. “I lied. When I met Jane I said I was adopted and from Los Angeles. I didn’t grow up in California. In fact, I've never even been there. I was born somewhere in the Midwest. My mom was part of the circus, and I grew up and traveled with them until I left at seventeen.”

Darcy turned to Clint and smiled at him. “Clint’s circus.”

_Clint was still a kid when he asked his brother why Sallie Jean Mae, the star trapeze artist, suddenly stopped walking the high wires and started helping the nice ladies who did the costumes .Barney had just shrugged and said to ask later. Clint never did though, because Jim, the man in charge, had pulled Clint aside and said they were gonna start having him do a robin hood act as soon as it could get good enough to show. Eager to perform, Clint had said yes, and Miss Sallie had smiled at him a few weeks later when he’d come in for a new costume. Then she’d let him feel her slightly round belly when he’d gawked at it._

_His show was a hit, and return customers stopped asking about Miss Sallie’s High Flying High Wire act and paid attention to Clint._

_A few months after Clint’s show began, Miss Sallie disappeared for a few days and came back smiling and carrying a tiny baby snugly wrapped up in a blanket that Sam the strongman had crocheted for her. Clint was nine when the little girl was brought to the circus. Miss Sallie had held her out to him and he’d leaned down to see a tiny, pale little thing looking at him with wide eyes._

_“What’s her name?” Clint asked softly, reaching out a curious finger and letting her little hand wrap around it._

_Sallie smiled at him. “Darcy.”_

_Clint leaned close to the little girl. “Hi, Darcy,” he said softly. “It’s nice to meet you. I hope we get to be friends.”_

_Sallie had smiled at that, and Darcy had gurgled at him._

_For the first few weeks after Darcy came to the circus, Clint saw her as the cute little thing that Miss Sallie toted around with her in a brightly colored sling. It took Miss Sallie a few months to stop carrying her that way and return to the high wire. And when she did, she performed almost every night. Clint visited her and Darcy in their trailer all the time. The little girl just fascinated him to no end. She was just always so happy and bubbly. Miss Sallie always smiled when she saw him coming, and would hold open the trailer door for him, Darcy squealing in laughter when she’d see him from her place among the few toys they had spread out on the floor._

_Four years went by, and Clint watched Miss Sallie raise her little girl in the circus. In those four years, Clint opened his act to include knives along with the bow. Miss Sallie had sighed at that when he told her, but took his costume anyways and sewed some sheaths onto it for him. When he asked her about it she simply told him the circus wasn’t a forever thing. And one day soon, she was going to take little Darcy away from everything and let her grow up like a normal little girl would with school every day, coming to a nice little house of their very own. A place where they could, where they would,_ stay put.

_Clint had smiled at that. “Can I come visit you?” he’d asked eagerly. “When you have that house of your very own?”_

_Sallie smiled at him. “Of course you can. You can come visit me anytime! I’m sure Darcy would just love it.”_

_“Love! Love!” Darcy cheered from her nearby seat at the small trailers only table, a mess of finger paints and brightly, albeit messily, covered papers in front of her._

_Miss Sallie had just sighed in exasperation at the sight of her child covered in the most lurid shades of the rainbow, smiled, and then swung her up into a hug. Darcy squealing in delight and Sallie smiling widely._

_They’d both been so full of laughter and happiness, just perfect as a family. It was something Clint would always remember._

_Two weeks later Miss Sallie would be killed in a car accident while she drove  alone from the tents and into the city. Leaving little Darcy, who was only four and a half years old, all alone._

_There was no will, just as there was no father. Instead, there was only Junie, Sallie’s aunt. At the time, Darcy didn’t understand why her mother was gone. She didn’t likes Junie either. An older woman,  Junie had been a part of the circus for years and had even been responsible for getting Miss Sallie involved. She wasn’t particularly fond of babies and children, let alone Darcy. But family was family so she just signed the papers a bored man from the courts thrust at her and agreed to raise Darcy until she was grown._

_Clint still visited Darcy all the time. He even let her follow him around while he practiced his show. She was his favorite audience. No matter what shot he made, she would clap and cheer for him. Junie didn’t mind either, she preferred to work on her goods to sell, rather than watch after Darcy._

_About a year and a half after the accident, Clint was 15 and Darcy almost six when Big Jim pulled them aside and told Clint he wanted him to show Darcy how to do the knife act._

_“I dunno, sir,” Clint protested. He looked down at the girl holding his hand tight as could be. Big Jim scared Darcy something fierce, and Clint honestly couldn’t fathom why. “Darcy’s awfully little.”_

_“That’s the idea Clint,” Big Jim said. “We start her young, put her in as the buildup for you, than when she’s older, she’ll get her own act.”_

_Clint chewed his lip and looked down at the girl. “Darcy, you wanna learn to throw?”_

_Darcy shook her head emphatically. “No.”_

_Clint looked at Jim. “She said no, sir.”_

_Big Jim chuckled. “Yeah. I really don’t care if she wants to do it or not. You’re gonna teach her, end of story.”_

_“I can’t force her to learn, sir,” Clint protested._

_Big Jim grabbed Clint’s arm and jerked on it hard, wrenching his hand out of Darcy’s. “I don’t really care what she wants, dammit. The kid’s been leaching off of us for_ five _, god damn years. It’s about time she learned something that’s gonna help her earn her keep. Now you either teach her and get her good, or I’m gonna make sure you can’t shoot or use this arm at all for the next three months.”_

_Clint winced as Big Jim squeezed. The man’s grip was strong and he could already tell it was going to bruise pretty badly from when he’d pulled on it earlier. He hissed through the pain and said, “She doesn’t want to learn. You can’t be good if you don’t want to learn.”_

_“Then make her want it,” Big Jim growled, squeezing even harder._

_Try as he might, Clint couldn’t keep the look of pain from his face. Darcy saw this and tugged on Big Jim’s hand. “Let go!” she cried._

_Big Jim let go, but he did so with a slap that knocked Darcy back and made her fall to the ground. She blinked a couple of times and started to wail. Clint glared at Big Jim and bent to help her, only to have Jim jerk him back by his collar. “I better see some results from her in a month, otherwise we have issues. Understood?”_

_Clint glared but knew Big Jim wouldn’t let go until he heard what he wanted. “Well?” Jim demanded, giving Clint a violent shake._

_Clint huffed. “Fine.”_

_“Good,” Big Jim said, letting Clint go with a slight shove._

_Clint reached for Darcy and soothed her as Jim walked away. He wiped away her tears and said, “It’s okay, Darcy.” He gave the crying girl a little hug. “It’ll be okay.”_

_“Don’t wanna learn!” Darcy wailed. “Mommy said no learning the circus!”_

_“I know,” Clint said. “I don’t want you to either. But I promise to try and make it fun okay?”_

_Darcy sniffed. “Okay.”_

_“And I promise not to yell, okay?”_

_Darcy nodded, tears still streaming down her face. “Okay.”_

_Clint smiled. “And I promise that one day, I’ll take you away from here. Far far away.”_

_“And stay put?” Darcy asked._

_“Absolutely,” Clint said._

_The next day, Darcy started learning knives._

_Four years later, Clint left. Darcy seven more after that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are going to be about three or four more flashbacks throughout the story. This chapter is mostly just to show Clint and Darcy and how they know each other from the circus. I realize I'm fudging their age gap a little bit, but I think it'll help with the story as a whole in the long run.


	3. Re-Evaluation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint and Hill have a conversation, and Darcy shows what she can do.

Darcy was not incarcerated.

She wasn’t exactly cleared either. After the revelation of her past with Clint, Hill rescinded her threat of immediate incarceration, but informed the two of them in no uncertain terms that they were in trouble. Clint was put on notice for failing to disclose previous interaction with a civilian that had been brought into SHIELD with classified projects. Darcy was, in a word, grounded.

Because of her track record with SHIELD so far, she was allowed to return to her duties with Jane and the other scientists, but she was under strict orders not to enter any non-civilian areas. Meaning she was only allowed access to Jane's lab, the lobby, and the cafeteria. “No wandering,” Hill ordered. “You will do the work you were brought here for, and only that.”

Darcy had frowned, but did what she was told. She went in to SHIELD, she worked in the lab, she ate lunch, and she went home. Two days after the meeting she’d only needed to walk up about two flights of stairs in her five floor walk up to see the new surveillance cameras added at each landing.

Darcy had sighed, rolled her eyes at the camera, and kept on walking.

 

* * *

 

Clint went back to work too. He left for a four day mission in Mexico a few hours after the meeting, but was on strict orders from Hill not to leave headquarters upon his return. Which is why, after medical and debrief, Hill found him on the range with one bow in his hand and two others on a table behind him.

“Agent Barton,” Hill greeted him.

“Deputy Director Hill,” Clint replied as he lined up another shot.

“I’ve read your report on the Mexico op. I find it interesting you felt the need to use incendiary arrow heads on the enemy vehicles and cause no less than five separate explosions.”

“Don’t forget the building collapse,” Clint added.

Hill grimaced.”That too,” she replied. “That one actually got me a phone call from the Mexican ambassador. Not something I particularly enjoyed, by the way.”

Barton didn’t respond and Hill was silent through the next four shots he fired. He placed the bow down on the table with the others and was refilling the quiver with more arrows when he asked, “What do you want, Deputy Director? I know you’re not here because of the Mexico op.”

Hill smirked. “Direct aren’t you?”

Clint shrugged. “It’s worked for me in the past.”

Hill sighed in resignation and pulled out a folder that had been tucked under her arm. Clint was looking at it upside down, but could see photos of Darcy. One of which showed her in bright colors and sequins. “Due to the new information on your and miss Lewis history, I ordered a complete background check be done.”

“She had a background check,” Clint said. “It was done by-”

“Coulson, I know.” Hill responded. “I actually had HR pull up a copy of the file he signed off on. I was very surprised by what I read. Or more specifically, what I didn’t read. There was no information on her family, her work history, or anything else that shows up in our usual background checks. The entire file begins once she completed her GED and submitted college applications. A college education that, according to our new research, she had no way of paying for, didn’t take out loans for, and owes no money on. That alone is suspicious. It’s almost as if nothing happened before she turned seventeen. Or, more specifically,” Hill began, looking up from the file at Barton directly. “It’s like Coulson was avoiding it.” She held up the photo of teenage Darcy in sequins and show make up. “Pretty girl. We did a search on her years in the circus. Her show was a big deal. The biggest act since, well, _you_. And yet, none of it is in her file. Why?”

Clint put the quiver down and faced her. “Honestly?”

  “Honestly,” Hill replied.

Clint crossed his arms and leaned against the table. “Coulson thought it was best. He never told me why.”

Hill frowned. “She’s your friend, and yet you let him keep parts of her past a secret?”

“Everyone has things they want kept secret. Darcy is no exception.” Clint glared at her look of disbelief for his acceptance at the hidden parts of Darcy’s life. “Look, Darcy’s not a bad person. She’s never been. She’s a hard worker and good at what she does. Coulson thought so too, which is why he doctored her file like that. He made sure she could hired at SHIELD. He made sure she’d have a chance.”

Hill snapped the folder shut and tucked it back under her arm. “I get the feeling _you_ made sure she had the chance, Agent Barton. Not Coulson. But good or not, Director Fury and I would like her non-civilian status evaluated. We need to know how skilled she is with those knives, and any other weapon, and if it qualifies her to work in other departments where skills like hers can be beneficial.”

Clint stood straighter and frowned. “Beneficial how?” he asked suspiciously.

“Beneficial in areas other than Doctor Fosters. You and I both know her education and weapons skills will be put to better use working with someone like me or Director Fury. But before she can be considered she needs to be evaluated. And since you are the one who taught her the knives, you are going to be questioned. It’s standard protocol for anyone who’s brought into our fold and has had contact or training with an agent at a previous time. Does this satisfy you’re need for a reason?”

Clint sighed. “For now, yes. What is it you want to know?”

 

* * *

 

Darcy was at lunch with Betty when Natasha slid into the seat across from them.

“Hola!” Darcy greeted.

Betty had food in her mouth but she grinned at Darcy’s greeting and gave a little wave when Natasha nodded a greeting back at her. “How long until your break is over?” Natasha asked.

“Uh…”Darcy glanced at her almost empty plate. “Not long. Pretty much just until my food’s gone; which won’t be long. What’s up?”

“Agent Hill has asked me to evaluate your skills. I’ve already cleared your time with Doctor Foster, so whenever you’re done with lunch we can head down to the training area.

Darcy frowned. “Evaluate for what, exactly?”

“Possible work within another department of SHIELD,” Natasha replied. At the look of confusion on Darcy’s face, Natasha said, “Due to your recent display of skill Director Fury and Deputy Director Hill would like your civilian status re-evaluated.”

“Like, what? To be an agent?” Darcy asked.

Natasha smiled. “No, a little more closely related to admin rather than field work like an agent. But to work in the department they’re considering you need to be competent in at least one weapon. Most of the admin for that floor prefer guns, but knives could be a nice touch.”

Darcy frowned. “And if I don’t want to?”

Natasha shrugged. “Then we’ll deal with that than, but either way, you need to be evaluated. It’s against SHIELD policy for an employee to have a known skill such as yours with weapons and not have an evaluation on record with their file.”

Darcy frowned. “Why didn’t we try and do this when I first came here?”

“You were classified by Agent Coulson as a non-threat due to your work with Doctor Foster. Plus, he felt that your performance during the Thor incident and subsequent dealings with SHIELD showed no need for an evaluation at that time. Also, he did the report for your background check which gave no indication that this was needed.”

Darcy frowned at the mention of Coulson but it quickly disappeared as she asked. “And now?”

“And now we would like to see what you can do,” Natasha said.

Darcy looked skeptical and Natasha said, “It’s just an evaluation, Darcy. Nothing more.”

Darcy sighed. “Fine, I’ll be there in half an hour.”

Natasha smiled and slid out of her seat.  “I’m looking forward to it,” she replied. “And dress to move,” she added,  before walking away.

Darcy watched her go and stabbed her food in frustration.  Betty watched her movements for a few moments before asking, “What’s going on?”

Darcy sighed, “I threw a scalpel in some guy’s eye the other day and now they want to see how dangerous I am.”

Betty’s eyes widened as she put a forkful of salad in her mouth. She made a ‘hmm’ sound while she chewed thoughtfully, than swallowed and asked, “Can I watch?”

Darcy smiled. “Sure.”

 

* * *

 

Darcy met Natasha down on the main training floor. Split into six areas, only about half the space was currently being used by other agents doing sparring matches or daily workouts.

“So what exactly do you want me to do?” Darcy asked. Per Natasha’s request she had changed into clothes she could move around in comfortably. She stood next to the trim, black clothed, red headed agent in a pair of yoga pants and a tight pink shirt with shiny gold stars over it. A shining contrast to Natasha’s somber attire.

“I just want to see what you can do. I’ve seen the footage, but those are scalpels, not knives like Clint says he trained you on. And I want to see you using a target too. “

Darcy nodded. “Okay. I haven’t done this in awhile, though. So I might suck.”

Natasha smirked. “Darcy, if what I saw the other day was any indication of your skills, than you should be fine.”

Darcy shrugged. “If you say so.” She looked over the wide variety of blades on a table that Natasha had had set up in the training area. “This is _a lot_ of knives,” Darcy said.

“SHIELD enjoys some variety with its weaponry.”

“I guess so,” Darcy said, thoughtfully eyeing a thin knife about nine inches long total with a curved black handle and a hole drilled right above the hilt. The blade itself was about five inches long, flat along one end and with a slight curve on the other. Darcy picked it up by its hilt and flipped it, catching it by the flat and flipping it again she said, “This might be good.”

Natasha nodded. “I’ll set up some targets.”

“Okay,” Darcy replied, as she watched Natasha walk away.

Betty walked up right then and looked down at the knives as Darcy picked up a couple more similar to the one already in her hand. “So…” Betty began, “You said you were a circus performer?”

Darcy nodded.  “Yeah, I was born into it. Performed there until I turned seventeen.”

“Why did you stop?” Betty asked.

Darcy gave her a frown that showed she clearly didn’t want to talk about it, and Betty shrugged it off and asked instead. “Who taught you?”

“Clint,” Darcy replied. “He was a good teacher, actually. He made it a lot of fun.”

 

* * *

 

_Darcy flexed her hand the way Clint had showed her would help it be more limber so that she could try throwing. They were starting on the knives today. It had been a few weeks since Jim had said he wanted her to learn to throw. Clint had started by teaching her to throw darts to practice aim and then had her practice with batons too so she could get used to the weight. Today was the day they were starting with blades though._

_“Now,” Clint explained as he held up a handful of knives with brown hilts. “These are for practice. They’re actually dull, but it’s good cause we’re going to have you use them on hay bales.”_

_Darcy nodded._

_“I’m going to take up some targets and then you’ll try a couple of throws.”_

_Darcy nodded again and Clint handed her the knives. “Get used to the weight and I’ll be right back.”_

_Darcy frowned and gripped the blade handle tightly as she watched him tape up some targets. Changing the grip on it, she tossed it lightly in the air and caught the flat of the blade. Gripping it between her forefingers she tossed it up again and fumbled when she tried to catch it. She watched it land in the dirt, blade first, with a frown. She grabbed another knife and tried flipping it again. This time she caught it when she flipped it by grabbing the blade.  But when she tried tossing it a little higher to get it to do a full spin she missed the catch again and the knife fell to the ground._

_“Try it like you’re juggling,” Clint said, walking up and grabbing the knives off the floor before Darcy could._

_“I dunno how to juggle,” Darcy said. “Mommy was gonna teach me, but then she…” Darcy drifted off and looked forlornly at the ground, scuffing her foot on the dirt and hay floor on their practice area._

_Clint fought a sigh and smiled at her cheerfully, fighting away his mutual sadness. “It’s okay,” he said. “Not everyone does.”_

_“Can you juggle?” Darcy asked curiously._

_Clint grinned. “Of course. Learned when I first came to the circus.” Grabbing a third knife from his pocket, Clint proceeded to whistle as he began to throw the knives swiftly in the air. Light bounced off the blades as they flew through the air and Darcy clapped happily as she realized he was whistling her favorite cartoon theme song. Clint smiled at seeing her happy and asked “Wanna learn?”_

_Darcy nodded eagerly and he caught the knives one by one before bowing grandly before her. She clapped happily again.  Tucking the knives in his waistband, he ran over to the nearby props table used by the clowns and grabbed some brightly colored balls before running back.”We’re gonna start with these, okay?”_

_Darcy nodded and Clint went through the motions of showing her how to toss the balls in the air and catch them with her other hand._

_They spent the whole rest of the day juggling, laughing, and having fun. Targets forgotten and knives ignored for the day._

* * *

 

“So when did you actually throw a knife?” Betty asked when Darcy finished her story and Natasha walked up.

Darcy shrugged and started flipping the knives into the air, her muscles slipping into the juggling easily, as if she’d never stopped. “The next day I think. I remember him setting up balloons full of paint once, and we made a game of me hitting certain colors. My favorite one was when we used pink balloons.”

Natasha smiled at that. “He used to do that for training,” she said. “When we were on a mission and bored shitless, he set up a bunch of balloons around the camp and started shooting.”

Darcy grinned. “Sounds like him,” she said with a laugh. She added in another knife to the juggle and Natasha quirked an eyebrow.

“Impressive,” she said.

Darcy grinned. The blades were blur of metal flying through the air as she turned to the targets and asked, “Which one?”

Natasha shrugged. “Whichever,” she replied.

Darcy grinned. “Cool,” she said, catching a blade and letting it fly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how to throw knives. I did look up throwing knives to get a description of one but that's about it. Hope you like the chapter!


	4. Darling Darcy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint and Natasha talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight warning. There is a reference to some physical abuse in this chapter, and an attempt/threat of it as well.

Natasha was in front of the monitor in the towers main common area watching as Darcy threw knife after knife at whatever target was put in front of her. She had put the tape on repeat while she outlined a report for Fury and Hill.

She heard footsteps approach the seat from behind her and then stop. “How’d she do?” Clint asked.

Natasha barely glanced up from her writing to flick her eyes at the tape as he watched with her. “Surprisingly well, actually,” Natasha said. “Considering she says she hasn’t been doing this for awhile. Her aim is almost as good as yours. It’s easy to see you were the one who trained her.” She looked up to face Clint. “Easy for me, at least.”

Clint grinned at her. “Well, you do know me the best out of everyone.”

Natasha’s smile was tight. “I thought I did. But here we are, years of friendship and partnership, and now there’s this part of your life you’ve never mentioned.” She looked back down at her writing “You said there was no one left from your past you cared about. And now…” She took  a breath.“Why didn’t you tell us about her?” she asked without looking up. “She and Foster have been here for months.”

Clint sighed. “I was wondering when you were going to ask me that,” he said.

“You knew we, you knew _I_ , would,” Natasha said.

Clint walked to the couch opposite her and sat down. Running a hand through his hair tiredly, he sighed. “It was a surprise,” he began. “I hadn’t seen her for six years when Foster showed up. and by than our whole involvement with one another had been kept under wraps for so long it was just easier to go along with it. The last time I’d seen or actually spoken to her before Thor was when she was seventeen. Before that, thirteen. I’d been horrible about keeping in touch with her once I enlisted. I’d had no idea she was working with Foster, or even what college she was going to. Hell, I’d completely forgotten she was even going to college.”

“That’s not like you,” Natasha said. “Why did you keep up with her?”

Clint shrugged. “Life? I guess it’s the best way to put it. I joined the military the second I turned eighteen and left the circus once I got my orders for basic. I was young and stupid, but I wanted to escape _so bad_. Things there were no longer a situation I wanted to be in. Darcy’s aunt Junie was being particularly evil around that time and I didn’t get much contact with her. It was almost four years later when I saw Darcy again. By then she was a teenager and had this huge act in the circus.” Clint smiled. “‘The Delightfully Dancing Darcy Dame’ they called her.”

“What did she do?” Natasha asked.

Clint eyed the notepad in her lap. “For the report?

Natasha put the pen down and looked at him attentively.

Clint smiled. “Thanks,” he said.

Natasha shrugged. “My part of the report is on her skill, not her history with you. But it would be nice to hear more.”

Clint smiled and remembered to the decade before.

* * *

 

_“Ladies and gentleman! Let’s hear it for Darcy Dame!”_

_Clint whistled while the crowd around him cheered for Darcy as she came winding down an aerial silk used by some of the acrobats. Landing soundly on her feet, she ran to the center of the ring and began to twist, turn, and dance to the music as she juggled knives and let them fly at her targets around the ring._

_The crown cheered each time she threw her knives a little bit higher, hit a target that was just a tad farther, tried something that was just a bit more dangerous. Clint’s friends were among them, clapping him on the back as they whistled and yelled. “Wasn’t she great? Wasn’t that amazing? Did you see her throw that knife?” they would ask. Eyes wide and thoroughly impressed._

_Clint would only laugh and nod his agreement. Not telling them that he’d taught her everything they were cheering over, shown her how to throw._

_Darcy threw a knife straight up and back flipped before catching, doing a quick double turn, and bowing with a flourish right as the music ended. The crowd cheered and clapped as Darcy climbed the trunk of the elephant who’d come to kneel before her and stood waving from its back as it carried her away._

_The next act was trapeze, and Clint wasn’t too interested in that. So he made an excuse to his friends about food and wandered out of the stands and into the walkways between tents. Feeling only slightly out of place, he looked around for a bit and finally found the performers area where they stored props and costumes in between shows._

_Seeing the handlers leading the elephant, (he remembered her being called Maisie) Clint walked closer and grinned as he watched Darcy pull her headdress off while she chatted with one of the clowns. She handed it off to the costumer and Clint whistled appreciation as she bent to unstrap her ankle sheath._

_He could see her shoulders tense as she turned and said “Listen, assho-” Darcy stopped, mid slur, when she saw Clint standing there with his hands in his jacket pockets and a joking grin on his face. “Oh…my…god!” she breathed._

_“Hey, Darcy,” Clint said._

_Darcy grinned and squealed. Running to Clint with open arms, she leapt into his as he stretched them out and let him squeeze the breath out of her. Laughing, he spun her in a circle before dropping her to her feet.  “Hi, Darcy,” he said. “Long time no see.”_

_Darcy giggled and smacked him. “Ass,” she said. “Whose fault is that?”_

_Clint chuckled. “Touché,” he replied. He took in her face covered with glitter and her hair that was pinned back with intricate combs and pins. The costume was old, similar to one of her moms, and sparkled like a disco ball. Her eyes were lit up with joy at seeing him. She was taller than he remembered, and curves were starting to show. “Damn Darcy,” Clint scolded, “you’re growing up.”_

_Darcy rolled her eyes at him. “It’s only been a few years, Clint. What’d you expect, that I’d stay nine forever?”_

_Clint shrugged. “I was kind of hoping.”_

_Darcy laughed. “Smart ass.” She jerked a thumb at the trailer behind her. “Lemme turn my gear in and we can hang out, yeah?”_

_Clint nodded. “Sure.”_

_“Cool,” Darcy said, and bounded off to change. While she did so, Clint watched his friends and former coworkers go by. Some waved hello, others glared and moved on. Clint ignored them and tried not to let it bother him. He knew what he was doing when he left the circus, the bridges he was burning, and regretted none of it. He was better off this way, everything was better off this way. Sure, there were some things he missed, like his family among the performers, but he didn’t think the life he was headed towards if he’d stayed was what he needed his life to be._

_“Ready!” Darcy cried, running up to him in jeans and a sweater. Clint grinned at her exuberance. Screw them, he thought, Darcy still liked him, and that’s all that mattered._

_“Hungry?” Clint asked._

_“Starving!” Darcy said._

_Clint chuckled. “Well, my treat than. Lead the way to your meal of choice.”_

_“Awesome,” Darcy replied, and dragged him off to the food area._

_“So what do you do?” Darcy asked later, her mouth full of hot dog and fries._

_Clint shrugged. “I’m a soldier. I pretty much just do what they tell me to.”_

_Darcy rolled her eyes at him. “I know that! But what kind of soldier are you? There’s different types, aren’t there?”_

_Clint grinned. “I work infantry. Basically I shoot stuff all day guarding convoys and civilians. Occasionally I do sniper work.”_

_“So you keep people safe?” Darcy asked._

_Clint shrugged. “Pretty much, yeah.”_

_“Way cool,” Darcy said. “What brought you back out here?” ‘Here’ was a set of fairgrounds located outside of who-knew-where, Ohio. “Are you on vacation?”_

_Clint shook his head. “Work, actually. There’s some recruiter for an ops program that called a few of us in. wants to ‘evaluate’ and see if we’re good enough.”_

_“Good enough for what?” Darcy asked._

_“No idea,” Clint said. “But it means delaying a rather unwanted trip to Germany for me and my friends whether we make it or not. So it’s win-win either way.”_

_Darcy laughed. “Silver lining, huh?”_

_Clint grinned. “Oh yeah.”_

_Darcy smiled and opened her mouth to speak again when a gruff voice barked. “Darcy!”_

_Darcy sighed in frustration and Clint watched as a tall man with a heavy beard walked up. Clint tried not to tense up as he approached. He recognized him as Big Jim’s oldest, Jimmy._

_“Hi, Jimmy,” Darcy said blandly._

_Jimmy glared at Darcy and snapped at her. “Why aren’t you at the tent? Mikey says you missed Final Bow.”_

_“Uh, cause I had better things to do,” Darcy said. “I hate waiting for the bow. I stay in costume and make up hours longer than I need to for an extra thirty seconds in the tent? No thank you.”_

_Clint could see the man’s jaw tighten from where he sat off to the side. His full attention was on Darcy, so he didn’t see that Clint was there. Feeling a heavy tension in the air between the two, Clint put his food down and watched the scene unfold._

_“I don’t care if you don’t like it,” Jimmy said. “You’ve been told before that you have to stay for it. You just make trouble whenever you run off after your set.”_

_“I hardly call going to my trailer to do independent study ‘making trouble’!” Darcy snapped stonily._

_Jimmy growled at her insolence. “Dammit girl!” he scolded, and reached for her arm, pulling her off the cart and roughly to her feet._

_“Ow!” Darcy cried out, Jim’s hand twisting tightly on her skin.”_

_Clint had started standing the second Jim reached for her. Ears pricking, her heard the older man’s rumble from low in his throat as he said, “Listen you--”_

_“I think that’s enough now,” Clint interrupted, stepping forward to get in between Darcy and Jimmy. He reached forward and, gripping Jim’s elbow in just the right spot, squeezed tightly until the older man was hissing in pain. Clint had a long memory, and knew that the older man was especially sensitive there._

_Jimmy grunted and Clint pressed harder to dig in his short but sharp nails. He hissed one last time and released Darcy with a shove. Clint glared as the older man finally looked at him. “Clint,” Jimmy said, trying to tug his arm free. Clint didn’t budge his grip. He was no fool, he knew his training, and he knew how much this hurt. “Long time no see,” Jimmy said through the pain. “You’ve grown a bit.”_

_Clint smirked. “I joined the army. Carrying about 60 pounds of gear everyday tends to make one bulk up. I see you haven’t changed much.”_

_Jimmy tried shrugging but grimaced as Clint kept his grip on the man’s skin, digging harder until his short nails started to leave clear evidence there would be bruises on the man’s skin._

_“Not much chance to change when the tents gotta get filled. S’why I need Darcy at the Bow. Crowds like her and all.”_

_“I saw,” Clint said casually. “She was pretty amazing.”  Clint saw Jimmy’s arm was starting to turn really red, and knew it was going to be one hell of a mark in the morning. “I popped out after her act and asked her to hang out and visit for awhile. You know, old times’ sake and all that. Seems she doesn’t hold any grudges on me leaving. So I figured buying her dinner was the least I could do.”_

_Clint leaned close and whispered coldly into Jimmy’s ear. “I, however, do hold grudges. And I have a gun. Many guns, actually. And friends willing to help me with anything, no questions asked. So I suggest you keep your hands off of her. Understood?”_

_Jimmy huffed and nodded._

_“Good,” Clint said, giving one final, painful twist before letting go._

_Jimmy winced as the blood raced back to his arm and stalked off without a word to either of them. Just a hate filled glare before he turned away._

_“Thanks,” Darcy said, as Clint turned around and began examining her arm as he saw she was rubbing it uncomfortably._

_“What’re friends for?” Clint said. Seeing no damage, just a faint bruise, he asked softly, “Does he do that a lot?”_

_“No,” Darcy said._

_Clint looked at her sharply. She’d said no a little_ too _quickly. They looked each other in the eye a couple of seconds longer until Darcy had to look away in shame. She was silent for a few seconds more until she sighed and said, “Sometimes I have to wear sleeves.”_

_Clint swore, “Does Junie do anything?”_

_Darcy didn’t answer, just snorted derisively._

_Clint sighed. “Christ, Darcy.”_

_Darcy shrugged. “Don’t worry, Clint. He can’t really hurt me. I’m his prize act. He loses a lot of money if I don’t perform. And he knows I know it too. I remind him about it all the time.”_

_Clint ground his teeth in frustration. “I shouldn’t have left you here.”_

_“You were eighteen and I wasn’t family. Junie would’ve grabbed me back. Besides,” Darcy said, now pinching Clint lightly in the arm, “I like performing. You saw me out there. I’m good at it. It’s something I’m meant to do.”_

_“The circus shouldn’t be forever, Darcy,” Clint said._

_Darcy smiled at him. “For me, it is. I like it here, Clint. I’m good at this. It makes me happy.”_

_Clint frowned at her words. But he could see the honesty in her words. She truly did love it. He didn’t have the heart to say anything or try to change her mind. Not when he knew she loved it so._

_Clint sighed. “I don’t like it,” he said. “But I’ll respect your choice.”_

_Darcy smiled. “I know you do. You’re the best guy I know, Clint.”_

_She leaned close and Clint hugged her to himself. “I just worry about you is all,” he said into her hair. “I felt so bad about leaving you.”_

_“I know,” Darcy murmured into his chest. “But it’s not your fault, and you needed to go.”_

_Clint gave her a final squeeze and released her.  Holding her out at arm’s length he asked, “When did you get so smart?”_

_Darcy grinned. “Not from Junie, that’s for sure.”_

_Clint laughed and let her go. Reaching for his wallet he pulled out a small notepad he kept in there and scribbled down a phone number. Ripping out the paper he held it out to Darcy and said, tone serious, “This is my number. I promise not to change it. If you ever need anything, you call me. Money, clothes, a way out._ Absolutely anything _.”_

_Darcy took the slip of paper and eyed the number thoughtfully. “What if you’re not here?” Darcy asked. “Don’t soldiers travel out of the country a lot? You said yourself you’re supposed to be heading for Germany.”_

_“Doesn’t matter,” Clint replied. “You have a problem, you call me. I’ll figure it out.”_

_Darcy looked up at Clint and smiled. She surprised him by leaping forward for another hug and smacked a quick kiss on his cheek before giving him a slightly longer one on the lips. His eyebrows rose and he stared at her in shock as she leaned back, “Thanks Clint,” she said gratefully. Letting him go, she stepped back and tucked the number into her back pocket, her cheeks turning pink. “You’re the best.”_

_Clint shook his head. “No, I’m not. But thanks anyway.”_

_Darcy smiled at his words and several hours later, they said good bye._

* * *

 

Natasha had watched him speak in silence the entire time. When he finished, she asked, “It was SHIELD, wasn’t it?”

“The ops program?” Clint asked. At Natasha’s nod he said, “Coulson himself interviewed me. Hill handled my weapons eval. Passed with flying colors.”

“And Darcy?” Natasha asked. “What happened to her?”

Clint frowned. “I’m not sure really. I gave her my number and didn’t hear a peep until she called out of the blue about five years later, asking for help. Something happened to make her leave, but she’s never told me what. After getting a big fat no the first time I asked her about it I’ve respected her wishes and never asked her again.”

Natasha eyed him thoughtfully and gathered up her things. Clicking the remote to turn off Darcy’s eval feed she said, “She’s right, you know,” Natasha said kindly as she stood up.

“About what?” Clint asked.

“You’re a good guy,” she said. She bent down and brushed her lips against his. He was looking up at her curiously when she pulled away and than smirked before walking off.

“Don’t be too long,” she said as she let her hips sway.

Clint watched her go and waited to hear the click of her bedroom door open down the hall before getting up and going after her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I mentioned before, there are several flashbacks in this story to help show the history of Clint and Darcy. This one was my favorite so far. Next chapter will have more Darcy. There's gonna be one more big flashback too, and than the story will start going forward with what happens for Darcy now that her story is out. Clint will be in the story too, but a lot of it will be focused on Darcy.


	5. The Offer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last of the already written chapters, the next one is roughly started but not as ready as the others had been. So it may be awhile. I'm sorry it took awhile longer to post this than the first few chapters, but I honestly wasn't sure about the flashback and spent the past couple of weeks thinking about rewriting it before just posting it. Hope you like it

Darcy was watching Tony, Bruce, and Jane spit physics back and forth at each other when Maria Hill came into the lab. Darcy waved at her as she walked over and the older woman shook her head when Darcy offered her a pastry from that mornings donut run.

“I’d like a word, Miss Lewis,” Hill said as Darcy tossed the box aside. “If you don’t mind.”

Darcy looked over just as Tony pulled open a schematic of Jane’s and began taking it apart. She watched as the petite physicist’s eyes grew large before she started putting things back in between bouts of shrieking at Tony. Darcy shrugged. “Eh, they’re gonna be busy for awhile. Why not?” she threw the notepad in her hand to the side and followed Maria to the empty lab next door.

“What’s up?” Darcy asked, plopping down into a seat at one of the high lab counters.

Hill took a seat next to her and handed over a pale blue folder she’d had tucked under her arm. “I wanted to discuss your evaluation with you.”

Darcy opened the folder and sighed. “So you guys have decided whether or not I’m dangerous?”

Hill smiled at her words. “Something like that,” she said as Darcy began reading. “We’ve already evaluated your administrative capabilities through your work with Doctor Foster, and agent Romanov has handled your weapons proficiency.”

Darcy flipped to Natasha’s evaluation and skimmed it, seeing an overall positive review; except for one thing. “‘Possibility for an expanded skill set is high and worth an investment on the part of SHIELD to provide Miss Lewis with further instruction’?”

Hill nodded. “She believes you have potential for training in other areas.”

“What the heck is it that you guys think I’ll be doing?” Darcy asked.

Hill chuckled. “Don’t worry. It’s not as bad as you might think it is.”

“That’s what they said about tribbles in star Trek,” Darcy muttered.

“I preferred Voyager, myself,” Hill said,

Darcy’s eyebrows went up and the older woman smiled impishly. Taking the folder from Darcy, she flipped to the back and pulled out a sheaf of papers that were clipped together. Snapping the folder closed, she handed the papers to Darcy and said, “SHIELD, as you well know, is a very large organization. More than just military and government work, we also have a lot of administrative areas that appreciate those who display a certain level of weapons skill.”

“So you want secretaries who can kill people?”Darcy asked. “Cause I gotta be honest, I did not want to do that with the scalpel. It just happened.”

Hill smiled at her. “No, we don’t want you to kill people. We have agents who handle things like that.”

“Like Clint and Natasha?” Darcy asked.

Hill gave her a ‘you know better than to ask that’ look and Darcy shrugged it off. “Hey, I’m well aware of what the two non-super powered avengers are capable of. I’ve seen that tape of Budapest.”

Hill shook her head in disbelief. “I’m going to pretend you did not just say that you’ve seen classified footage.”

Darcy smiled. “While you’re at it you can also pretend I haven’t seen that tape of you punching Coulson. I must say though, that amount of blood was _epic!_.”

Hill just stared at her and growled. “Barton.”

Darcy grinned. “Actually, it was Tony. But we’re off topic. You were in the middle of pitching me something.”

Hill smiled. “Yes, I was.”

“Well, before I get off topic and distract you again, why don’t you just quit hedging around the topic and get to the point.”

Hill smiled. “Natasha said you were direct.”

Darcy shrugged. “Blame Clint, he was a real smartass as a teenager.”

“I bet,” Hill said. As Darcy chuckled at her response, she said. “Okay, to the point. What I came here to do was offer you a job in SHIELD admin. More specifically, the department that handles the day to day operations of our higher clearance level projects. Pretty much anything level five and above.”

Darcy frowned. “You want me to be a secretary for top secret stuff?”

“Administrative Handler, is the technical term,” Hill said. “But basically, yes. Usually we try to recruit from the other agencies; but sometimes it’s much smoother to recruit from within so as to ease the acclimation process.”

“You mean it’s easier to bring someone in on the crazy SHIELD shenanigans if they already know about them.”

Hill shrugged. “Pretty much.”

Darcy swiveled around in her chair, and watched through the window as Jane and Tony stood in front of their schematic and gestured wildly at each other as Bruce stood off to the side watching, making notes every time they took something off the design or at least moved it somewhere. Darcy smiled at all of it and asked, “How does my ‘weapons proficiency’ play into being SHIELD admin?”

“All SHIELD employees are required to have a certain level of skill with a weapon in order to work at a certain clearance level. And while the admin department doesn’t involve itself in combat like some of our other agents, they do on occasion travel on SHIELD business in high risk areas with the agents.”

“Like war zones?” Darcy asked.

Hill nodded. “That’s one example. One of our admin recently traveled to Darfur with a contingent of agents and their handler for a snatch and grab of a wanted war criminal.”

Darcy frowned. “But I use knives. I’m pretty sure your other admin’s use guns. Plus, I just throw, I don’t really fight.”

“Like I said earlier, we prefer a diverse skill set. Also, we’re willing to train.”

Darcy sighed and fiddled with the papers in front of her. “What if I say yes and then change my mind?”

“If you decide to do so, that’s up to you. We do have excellent interagency relations within the government and transfers are always a possibility down the line.”

“What kind of agencies?” Darcy asked.

“All of them,” Hill said. “Having a SHIELD credential does _wonders_ for your resume. It’s not a question of who can you work with, but instead, who do you _want_ to work with? Cause there’s not a single one that won’t want you if you decide to leave.”

“Sounds like a big deal,” Darcy said.

“That’s because it is,” Hill said. “SHIELD has worked very hard over the years to show that we only hire the best. And you’ve got the potential for it, as Agent Romanov has reported. And Agent Barton assures us you can handle our extensive training regimen.”

Hill pushed back from the counter and stood. Taking back the folder with Darcy’s evaluation in it, but leaving the sheaf of papers she’d given to her earlier. “That packet outlines SHIELD’s employment contract, benefits package, pay structure and retirement offerings. Take a couple of days to think about it and let me know if you’re interested.”

“Alright,” Darcy said, staring down at the packet dubiously.

“Agent Barton can provide you with my contact information when you’ve got your answer.”

“Okay.” Darcy stood and followed Hill through to the other lab. She walked with her to the door and asked, “Do you think I can do it?”

Hill smiled kindly at her. “Agent Romanov thinks you can. And honestly, I wouldn’t have pitched the idea for it to Fury otherwise.”

Darcy smiled grimly. “Thanks, I think,” she said.

Hill grinned a bit wider and walked away. Looking down at the packet in her hands Darcy sighed. “You throw a blade once and look what happens to you,” she muttered to herself and walked towards Jane’s lab. Just in time to duck as Jane threw her notebook through the projection at Tony’s head, Bruce standing with a smile on his face in the background.

* * *

 

Clint found Darcy in the cafeteria a few hours later, poring through the packet of papers with the SHIELD logo stamped on the back.

“Job offer?” he asked, sitting across from Darcy, his plate full of pasta and vegetables.

Darcy nodded. “Did you know SHIELD does full tuition reimbursement if I’m a student while employed here?”

Clint nodded. “Yup. Or if you fill out the right forms they’ll transfer it over to a relative of your choice.”

Darcy dropped the packet and stared at him. “Is that how you did it?” she asked.

Clint shrugged. “It helped,” he said as he stabbed a piece of broccoli with his fork. “I wasn’t using it, had no plans to either. I saw no reason not to let you have it. I had no doubt at the time that you’d put it to good use.”

Darcy frowned as she thought over his words. “Wait a minute…I’m not a relative. How did I qualify?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’d pulled enough ops and had done enough favors for people. All I had to do was call some in. Coulson helped me set it up.”

Darcy stared at him, slack jawed. “You’re awesome,” she said. “You know that?”

Clint smirked. “I try.”

Darcy laughed at his response and held up the packet. “What do you think?”

Clint reached for it and Darcy handed it over. He flipped through it, stopping at a few sections here and there before shrugging and saying, “It’s a good offer. The pay’s good, benefits are awesome, and it’s not like you don’t already do this kind of stuff for Jane and Bruce anyways.”

Darcy shrugged and took the packet back. “True, but Jane and Bruce are…well, they’re Jane and Bruce! This seems to be a whole lot more than me putting a bunch of science data in excel and graphing it.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s similar to what Pepper Potts said when she went from being an accountant to Tony Stark’s personal assistant.”

“She was an accountant?” Darcy asked incredulously.

Clint nodded and continued to plough through his meal. “Tony told me,” he said. “Along with some other things I really never wanted to know about the two of them.” He stopped to gag theatrically for a moment before continuing with his food.

Darcy grinned. “That’s nothing. You should hear Jane wax on about Thor.”

Clint shuddered.  “No, thank you.”

“Coward.”

Clint chuckled and Darcy grinned. “So you think I should take it?” she asked, referring to the job offer.

Clint shrugged. “It’s a good opportunity. How many classes do you have left?”

Darcy sighed. “Just a few. My work with Jane pretty much sealed anything science related I had to deal with. So now it’s just stuff on policy and maybe an ethics course.”

Clint nodded. “Well, than the ones you have left shouldn’t interfere if you take it. I remember you saying that there wasn’t much left once the science was over.”

Darcy took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she thought it over. “You know, growing up, I never thought I’d wind up working as a glorified secretary in a top secret government agency. I thought I’d be working the tents until I couldn’t throw anymore.”

Clint chuckled. “I don’t think any of us expected to be where we’ve ended up.”

“Where did you think you’d be?” Darcy asked.

Clint shrugged. “When I was really little? In the circus running the show. But as I got older, my idea of the future changed. After awhile I saw myself elsewhere, away from the tents.  Having a life that didn’t mean moving around all the time.”

“Staying put,” Darcy said fondly.

Clint smiled. “Yeah, staying put was a definite goal.”

“And now you’re a government agent who’s always on the move!” Darcy said grandly while waving jazz hands.

Clint chuckled. “Not always,” he said. “And don’t forget my job helped me get you out of there. Even if I was ‘on the move’ as you put it, when I got you out of there.”

Darcy smiled softly at him. “Yeah, you did. And I’m always going to be grateful to you for that. you know that, right?”

Clint smiled back, but he didn’t answer and didn’t say anything about the sadness that came over her eyes as she remembered the circus and having to call him for help.

“Where were you when I called you anyways?” she asked. “All these years, and I’ve never asked.”

* * *

 

_“Barton, status,” Coulson’s voice said over the comm._

_Clint shook some water off before reaching into the hood of his jacket for his earpiece and replied. “Still in a tree sir.”_

_He could hear Coulson smirk through the comm. “Any sign of the target?” Coulson asked._

_Clint glanced over at the ramshackle house hidden within the dense forest growth. Peering through the open windows Clint said, “Still no sign of him, sir. Residence shows movement, but so far it’s just been the wife and the two goons. Target has yet to make contact or arrive at location.”_

_“Intel says target is set to arrive sometime within the next 90 minute window. So stay alert.”_

_“Always do, sir,” Clint replied, and pulled his hood further over his head to prevent the steady drip of rain coming from over head getting into his line of sight. He could still shoot if it did, but he’d already been sitting in the tree for over six hours now, a majority of that time in the rain as well. He was really not in the mood to get any more of it in his clothes._

_Sighing in boredom, he checked his equipment to make sure it was still going to work despite the wet. Seeing no issues, he went back to watching the house and waiting for his target to arrive._

_Coulson’s intel failed to disappoint as his target arrived with twenty minutes to spare from the original estimate given. “Target sighted,” Clint reported. He grabbed his bow and pulled an arrow from the quiver. He didn’t bother checking the arrowhead though. This was not a mark and track mission, or a snatch and grab. This was something Clint was, unfortunately, very good at._

_“Waiting for orders, sir,” Clint said, watching as his target walked through the house. Adjusting his shot each time he saw him pass in front of a different window._

_A moment later there was a click over the comm.. “Status?” Coulson asked._

_Clint shifted his view again. “Watching. Waiting for target to come back into sight sir.” A few seconds passed and the target appeared. “Target in sight,” Clint said, his signal that he was ready to take the shot._

_“Take it,” Coulson said. “Everyone but the wife.”_

_The bow string let loose a soft twang in his ear as Clint released it and he watched the arrow sail through the air and slip into his targets chest, right where his heart would be. A wail sounded as the wife screamed and the two burly men he’d seen earlier came into view. By this time Clint had already notched and released his second and third arrows, both men slumping to the floor with feathered shafts coming from their eyes or the back of their skulls._

_“Ground team is a go,” Coulson ordered. Clint kept to his perch in the tree, providing cover in case any surprises popped up, while a group of men and women in black tactical gear began pouring in from the surrounding foliage and swarmed into the house. The wife screamed at them when she saw them, but soon fell to the ground with a brightly feathered tranquilizer jutting from her shoulder._

_“Nice shot,” Coulson said over the comm.._

_“Thank you, sir,” Clint replied._

_“Wait until the tactical team is out, than head back to camp.”_

_“Yes, sir,” Clint replied, and settled in for another wait._

_The tactical team was efficient, that was for sure. Clint watched as they swept through the house, half dealing with disposing of the bodies, and the others searching for weapons, or whatever it was they were looking for. It only took about two hours before Clint was sitting in a tent with Coulson, debriefing on his part of the mission. He was just on the part about shooting the target when his phone began to buzz._

_Coulson raised an eyebrow and he and Clint watched as the phone buzzed and rattled across the table in front of them. “Are you going to get that?” Coulson asked._

_Clint frowned at the number. “I don’t know anybody in Milwaukee,” Clint said. He didn’t recognize the number, but he recognized the area code._

_The buzzing died and the phone beeped his missed call at him. “Have you ever_ been _to Milwaukee?” Coulson asked._

_Clint shrugged. “I was once,” he said. “Back when I was younger and in the…” Clint trailed off and stared with a mix of curiosity and worry at the phone._

_“What is it?” Coulson asked._

_Clint failed to answer as the phone buzzed again with the same unknown number. He snatched it up and said, “Barton,” in a crisp tone._

_Silence._

_“Hello?” Clint asked._

_A sniffle, mixed with a sob. “Clint?” a weak sounding voice said over the line._

_Clint shot to his feet, knocking his chair back. “Darcy?” he asked. Coulson watched with interest as he walked to the other side of the tent. “Darcy, is that you?  What’s wrong?”_

_Another sob. “I need help.” A hiccup. “I have nowhere else to go.”_

_“Don’t worry,” Clint said. “I’ll take care of everything. I promise.”_

_Clint flipped the phone shut and turned to Coulson. “I need a flight to Milwaukee._

_Coulson raised an eyebrow. “For when?”_

_“Now.”_


	6. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy's first day. Like most first days, it involves lots of paperwork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, I am finally updating a new chapter. Sorry it took so long, its not much, but it's something. The next chapter should hopefully have more.

It took a few days, but in the end Darcy said yes.

She didn’t start right away though. She had to sign multiple employment contracts and even stricter non-disclosure agreements than working in the labs had required. Her security clearance had to be corrected back to what it was before the attack and Hill’s adjustments, and then she had to wait for it to go through the bureaucratic red tape to be set high enough so she could work with multiple levels of agents.

Her patience paid off though. Three weeks after Hill walked into the lab and offered her that packet of papers, she received an email directing her to report for duty the next day for her new position.

Jane sighed when Darcy told her but in the end she just smiled and told her to take the rest of the day to take care of whatever she needed to go and get ready. Darcy gave her a hug in thanks and left the lab to head home and start wrangling together a great first day outfit.

She was almost home when she got a message from Clint. He’d left a few days ago for parts unknown, Darcy not privy to the info because of her clearance level, so she was surprised when his name appeared on her screen. She laughed when she saw the message was a picture of Clint trying to give her a thumbs up, a blur of what looked like Sitwell trying to grab the phone from him, and Natasha in the background holding someone in a headlock. The caption that came with it read “Welcome to the crazy. You’ll do great.”

Darcy smiled at his words of encouragement and spent the rest of the train ride home with a smile on her face.

 

 

The next day Darcy arrived at SHIELD early. She’d been spoiled with Jane and her lab schedule of late morning starts and work that ran well into the night, but her years of college before Jane had been full of early morning classes, so it wasn’t that hard of a stretch to have herself at headquarters at eight am sharp.

A cheery looking woman with flame red hair met her at the security desk. “Hi there,” she said, holding out a hand with a smile. “I’m Henrietta.”

Darcy smiled in reply and shook her hand. “I’m guessing you’re my guide for the day?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Henrietta said, she handed Darcy a badge and a folder. “That’s your new proximity card. You’ll need that to get on and off the floors delegated for the administrative staff. No sharing, no piggybacking.” She turned and began walking briskly down towards the elevators. “Despite what some may think, we are not just secretaries and go fers for the agents. We have work to do, and our work requires the same security precautions as the agent’s floors.”

“Security’s important, got it,” Darcy said.

Henrietta led her onto an elevator full of agents. “Admin, level 5,” she said briskly. The elevator pinged acknowledgement and Darcy felt the tug in her stomach as the elevator began to move upwards. It stopped at the second and third floors to drop of several of the agents and that pinged at them when their reached their destination. Henrietta strode out briskly and Darcy followed in her wake. Henrietta swiped her badge at a pedestal that blinked at her and Darcy followed her example and did the same. As she led Darcy through the floor she continued to speak.

“There are thirty administrative assistants on this floor. Five for each major department of SHIELD. We receive all requests from each department, process what needs to be done to ready it, and have it sent on to the appropriate agent who’s at the clearance level to handle it.”

Darcy stared out at the sea of desks before her on the admin floor. They were blocked in groups of three, and the mix of men and women alike moved among their cluster of desks busy with intent, not a single person without a tablet or set of folders in their hands. Along one wall was a set of five offices. Glass was clear on some of them, but frosted on others. She watched as one of the closed doors opened and the frost on the glass turned clear. The other walls held various screens showing various news feeds, some security feeds, and one showed a map with a blinking dot moving on it from place to place.

“Any questions so far?” Henrietta asked.

“Who uses the offices?” Darcy asked.

Henrietta pointed at each individually as she said, “Agents Sitwell, Hill, Woo, Hand, and formerly Coulson.” She shrugged at Darcy’s curious look. “No one’s willing to take it just yet. Rumor has it we’ll meet the new occupant within a few weeks. For right now, though, Hill is here the most often with the others constantly out in the field or somewhere else in the building, so we never really see them.”

Darcy nodded. “Good to know.”

“I’ll show you your desk,” Henrietta said. She led Darcy down past the first of the desks to the middle of the floor and said, “You’ll be working with Allison and me.” A petite brunette waved at Darcy. “Your login is already set up and you’ll need to do a new password. Allison will take you through the basics of the system for the next few couple hours and later I’ll introduce you to the department you’ll be handling. I was hoping to know it when you got here but they’re still working on some of the paperwork for it. Half of us break for lunch at twelve, and the other a half hour later. You’re free to choose which time.”

“Thanks,” Darcy said.

Henrietta grabbed some files off her desk, said “I’ll be floating around between here and records, lemme know if you need anything.”

Allison gave a little wave and she and Darcy stared awkwardly at each other and Darcy said, “So, what time do you go to lunch?”

“12:30,” Allison said.

“Food better?” Darcy asked.

Allison smirked. “It’s when special ops meets. Better view.”

Darcy grinned. “Nice.” She pulled out the largest drawer on the desk and saw it was empty except for a black lockbox, similar to the ones she knew Clint and other agents probably used for handguns. She ignored it and threw in her purse and slammed the drawer shut. “So!” Darcy chirped. “Show me the ropes!”

 

 

SHIELD admin, Darcy soon realized, dealt with a lot of paperwork. Allison took her through at least fifty different forms before lunch came even close. She was actually explaining the different types of requisition forms SHIELD used for bullets when her phone rang. She grabbed it without looking at the caller ID and said, “Darcy Lewis speaking.”

“So professional,” Clint teased over the line.

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Hi, Clint.”

Allison raised her eyebrows in curiosity but Darcy waved her off. “Just wanted to see how the job’s going.”

“I’ve been her three hours so far and most of what I’ve done is learn about requisition forms.”

“Sounds fun,” Clint said.

“Says the man who I know never does paperwork. And I know this because Bruce told me so when I had to help deliver his paperwork for him on the last mission.”

Clint chuckled. “Touché.  Well, I just wanted to see how you were doing. Wanna join me for lunch?”

“I thought you were somewhere classified?” Darcy asked.

She could almost hear him shrug through the phone. “Mission finished early. Natasha got a little carried away and they want us to debrief fury in person before we head out again. We’re actually on our way back right now, should be there in a few hours.”

“Sure,” Darcy said. She spun in her chair and smiled at her desk mate. “12:30 okay?” she asked with a smile.         

“Sounds good,” Clint said. “Hey, what department are you handling?”

“No idea,” Darcy replied. “I find out after lunch.”

A boom went off in the background and Darcy heard someone yell, “Barton!”

“Was that Sitwell?” Darcy asked. “What did you do?” she asked accusingly.

“Gotta go!” Clint said. “See you at lunch!”

The phone clicked and Darcy stared down as the dial tone sounded off.  Darcy rolled her eyes at Clint’s antics and threw her phone back on the desk. Allison eyed her curiously and she grinned. “Wanna have lunch with an Avenger?”

 

 

‘Avenger’ turned into Avengers, plural. Clint brought Steve along and Darcy brought Allison and Henrietta. She grinned at Henrietta’s look of brief shock before she turned it into one of polite professionalism as the two blonde men smiled at the women. 

“Hi, Steve,” Darcy greeted.

“Hello Ms. Lewis,” Steve said. “How’s your day going?”

“Pretty good,” Darcy said. “Mostly just learning about paperwork right now.”

“Sounds educating,” Steve said.

Darcy shrugged. “I guess. Allison’s helping make it fun.”

The brunette shrugged. “I’m trying. Darcy’s picking it up pretty quick though.”

“Yeah. Hey! Did you know there’s a set of forms you can fill out if your twin has taken over your identity?”

Clint chuckled and Steve looked at him confusedly before he said, “I’ll tell you later.”

“Ooh!” Darcy said excitedly. “Tell us now! Tell us now!”

Clint shook his head. “No, I don’t want to traumatize you.”

Darcy snorted. “I once let you shoot arrows at me while I danced around juggling knives. I’m pretty sure I can handle an evil twin story.”

Clint grinned at that while Steve and Henrietta stared at the two of them in shock. He was opening his mouth to tell the story when his phone went off. He checked it quickly and he sighed. “Gotta go,” he said. “Fury wants us to debrief now.”

Darcy smiled and waved him off. “Have fun! Be careful!”

“Always do!” Clint quipped, grabbing his dessert of his tray before diving out of his seat with Steve following behind him.

Henrietta joined Darcy and Allison in watching him go. As the varied people who jumped out of their way resumed their paths across the cafeteria Henrietta asked curiously. “Was he responding to being careful or having fun?”

Darcy shrugged from where she was stealing Steve’s abandoned desert off his tray. “Having fun. Cause knowing Clint, he’s _never_ careful.”

 

 

Later, Darcy regretted that extra dessert when she felt upchucking it at the sight of her desk. Allison patted her on the shoulder and went to sit at her own.  

“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” Darcy said, her tone slightly hysterical.

Henrietta joined her in standing before her desk and staring slack jawed at a precariously leaning tower of forms, folders, and other administrative paraphernalia.

“Wow,” Henrietta said. “That’s…intimidating.”

A young agent in a crisp blue suit came up to them carrying two rather full boxes of files, dropped them on the desk, causing a pile of papers to slip to the floor, turned to a staring Darcy and Henrietta, shrugged, and walked away.

“Um, what the fuck?” Darcy asked.

“I think this is the stuff for the department you’re taking care of,” Henrietta said. She skirted around the mess on the floor and went to her monitor. She logged in quickly and scanned through her email quickly before frowning, typing furiously, and then standing straight again. “Well, there’s good news and bad news,” Henrietta said. “Which do you want first?”

Darcy gestures at the pile of paper. “Is it worse than this?”

Henrietta eyed the paper warily. “Maybe?” she said.

Darcy sighed and Allison piped up. “Good news good news!”

“SHIELD trusts your capabilities to the point where they are having you be one of three sole handlers of your department.”

“How’s that good news?” Darcy asked, pulling a box off her chair and dropping it to the floor with a thud.

Alison leaned around the leaning tower of paper. “It’s the equivalent of going from probie-noob to seasoned agent in like, a minute. So it’s a major coup.”

“Allison and I will be helping you with the backlog, but once that's caught up and your handling agent transfers in, you’ll be expected to handle a lot of it with them and another admin,” Henrietta said. “All possible work that needs to be handled in the field will be traded off between you and the other admin.”

“And the bad news?” Darcy asked.

Henrietta sighed. “This is the department no one really wants to handle. There’s a lot of…complications with it.”

Allison gasped realization and Darcy frowned at her. “Complications how?” Darcy asked.

Henrietta eyed Allison and then said, “You’re handling the Avengers administrative organization. A lot of the missions and agents involved with the Avengers are highly classified, so only certain people can handle the paperwork. Due to the limitations of certain security levels and the lack of admin for it, it’s gotten a bit backlogged with the paperwork.”

Darcy looked at her desk. Fearing the answer she asked. “How much of a backlog is this?”

Henrietta eyeballed the paperwork. “You’re looking at about months’ worth right here.”

There was a wary look in her eye so Darcy said, “But…?”

Henrietta sighed. “There’s about another four months’ worth down in the archives, and then another six that’s currently being stored in the triskelion. That will be shipped in at a later date once you and a cleared agent can be sent to retrieve it.”

Darcy’s eyebrows went as high as they could. Her gaze darted back and forth between the two women and the paperwork before she just blew a raspberry and shrugged. “I was bound to get blown up in the labs eventually,” she said. She stretched her back out, cracked her knuckles, and grabbed some paperwork off the desk before getting to work.

 

 

           

**Author's Note:**

> This work is not beta'd. Any mistakes are mine. The first 3-4 chapters may update quickly, because they're already written. After that it may be slow.


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